Time to Catch UP

| TravellinPenguin

Sorry I haven’t been around lately. We got home from a wonderful trip to Koh Samuii, Thailand and then a few days in Singapore safely.  It was a very welcome break from winter days though we forget how hot Singapore can be.

I realised the Penguin was getting to be a trifle dirty from travelling the past couple of years. He has been on four different continents without a bath so a bath was in order.Snip20170912_4

As soon as we got home, probably from the airplane trip home, I came down with a whopping case of bronchitis. Coughing spasms making it hard to breathe or sleep. It is now on its way out but this particular bug has really hung on.

It was a time for magazine reading, peppermint tea with honey, catching up on articles cut out of magazines I wanted to get rid of.

Snip20170912_2

I did manage to finish The Group by Mary McCarthy. I thought it was an excellent book as it is the story of several women graduates from Vassar College in the US during the 20’s and 30’s. Our book club discussed it a week or so ago. Most found it average, a couple didn’t care for it and two of us gave it 4 stars. I think the positive side of this book for us ‘older women’ who really enjoyed it was it showed the life women usually took once they graduated from college. (University)

These women were very educated and intelligent but their whole life seemed to involve around getting a husband and the colour of curtains and furnishings for their new house. The men didn’t seem to respect them for the women who they were. It showed a social progression that many women took during this time period.

A criticism of the book was we didn’t think the writing reflected the time period of the 20’s and 30’s. It read as if it was after WWII and the 1950’s. I know as I read it I constantly had the fifties and the life of my own mother in mind. She was a woman that finished two years of university before war broke out. She was a very creative and clever woman but married a man who spent his life in the military. The rest of her life was supporting social activities related to his career development. She developed alcoholism, depression and had many unfinished dreams though I am not sure she ever really knew what they were. This book reminded me a great deal of her life and the expectations on women of the time.

Snip20170912_3Then when I was feeling quite crook and the antibiotics were giving me headaches and nausea I laid in bed one day and checked out the book Finding Gobi by Dion Leonard as an e-Book from the State Library.

Non-fiction. A man with issues from his past who is a long distance runner participates in a race through the Gobi Desert in Mongolia. A small terrier attaches herself to him and runs beside him. A bond grows. When he is finished with the race and has come to know the spirit of this small terrier he is hesitant to just walk away from this homeless dog.

The book is the story of the trials and tribulations of getting Gobi back to Edinburgh, Scotland including Gobi becoming lost in a large Chinese city and being found again. The whole journey these two experienced was at times harrowing, uplifting and I only read the book because I knew it had a happy ending. I always have to know the ending of animal stories before I will commit to reading them.

I understand this book is currently being made into a film by Fox studios.

Snip20170912_5

This week also has me participating in the Tasmanian Reader and Writer’s Festival in Hobart. I am signed up for four sessions and I hope to do a post about each one.

As  I am feeling much better now but still not 100% I need to get back into life again. I have been quite self indulgent in my crabby mood about getting sick, yet again this winter.

Spring is supposedly here in Australia. The Australians celebrate seasonal changes on the first of the month of the equinox and solstice. However as I have come to realise the previous weather is not yet finished I hold out for spring to begin on 22nd of September, not the first. We had snow here a few days ago and in my mind that is not yet spring.

Everything is in bloom though or about to burst into bloom. It has been warming up a bit and the first of October sees us going into Daylight Savings Time with more light in the evenings. I am more than ready for that.

I hope this finds everyone happy and safe.  For those Americans, especially in the southern United States I hope you have found safety through the terrible hurricanes. I know I followed the American news for a couple of days  as Irma swept through my old home of Fort Myers, Florida. I doubt the house we lived in at the time has survived without a great deal of flooding. I remember digging a hole to put in a post for a bird feeder once in the back yard and we hit water. I can’t imagine how it must be now after Irma.

Snip20170912_6
This is our house cat Cousin Eddie. He has a malocclusion that makes him look like a vampire. He is a very funny cat, often in trouble. He is extremely smoochy and loves cuddles.

Stay safe wherever you are and enjoy what you are doing today. Especially if everything gets to you in the world, just focus on today. Do something that makes you laugh. That, to me, is the best cure for everything.

17 thoughts on “Time to Catch UP”

  1. hope you’re feeling better; being sick is the pits, especially if one is traveling… “Gobi” sounds like my kind of novel… and cousin Eddy looks like he’s keeping well… we lost Uncle Wiggly earlier this year and are down to one doggie, Albert… the loss hit us a lot harder than we would have imagined… but life continues on, regardless… it’s good to have things to do, lined up for the future, in some ways… altho Mrs. M and I, after the struggle with the kitchen remodel, which finally looks like it’s being resolved, are enjoying not having so much to worry about…

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Losing a pet is the worst in my book. We still grieve for Wally, our dog and we lost him in March 2016. He ran our household but our other 3 cats and 2 dogs keep us laughing. We need a kitchen remodel but I dread the inconvenience ao we are holding off. We always try to have things to look forward to but many tomes I just want the inactivity of a cabbage. Always lovely to hear from you.

      Like

      1. if you’re thinking about remodeling your kitchen, be sure you nose check the construction materials, the plywood, finishes, etc., first… we didn’t do that and the formaldehyde odor was so bad we had to leave the house for a motel; it never improved much and we eventually had to have all the cabinets and floor torn out again… it was either that or move… after months of living with a bucket and camp stove, we finally have arranged to have another kitchen installed by one of our relatives, with odor-free materiel… an expensive and upsetting mistake…

        Like

  4. Thank you Joan. I do hope you enjoy little Gobi. A few nerve wracking moment but the books tells you upfront she makes it safely to Edinburgh. It is amazing the committment the man had to this little dog.

    Like

  5. I was beginning to worry about you and Penguin. I’m glad you’re beginning to feel better. Penguin surely feels better after a nice, bubbly bath. It’s good to have you both back. I’ve just ordered Finding Gobi as an e-book. Thanks for the tip!

    Like

  7. Sorry to hear about your illness. These things tend to linger on far too ling. Hopefully you are now at the end of this ordeal.
    Love Penguin in the bath. Hemis so cute. I am sure he appreciates getting the travel dust off his skin.

    Like

  8. I did wonder about your absence Pam! Sorry you came down with a nasty lurgy. I’ve been struggling with a cough, but managed to keep it out of my chest. My, though, these coughs take a while to go.

    Interestingly, when we went to Koh Samui, we spent 4 days in Singapore first. I loved Singapore more than Koh Samui – except for that darned humidity. It sure is something. I reckon the plan is to get up early, do some sightseeing, then rest in the afternoon, and go out again in the evening. But this doesn’t work if you do a day tour of the island, does it!

    Like

      1. I guess I’m just not a resort person. I think I want to go somewhere to relax but I get bored very quickly. I love getting out sight-seeing which Singapore was great for. And you can people watch too! Haha.

        Like

        1. I enjoy a holiday that is half city, half rest. I used to get bored with resort life. Now I can do about a week and really enjoy, then I need to leave. As I get older I find I don’t need as much activity as I used to. Another 10 years I will probably live like a large rock, haha.

          Like

  9. I’ve never even read The group, and I also thought is was about post WWII. I’ve had it one my tbr forever, because I heard it’s the inspiration for Sex and the City! Hope you feel better.

    Liked by 1 person

Comments are closed.